topic Re: How many cards in Credit Cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1566826#M430832
<P>It's a personal decision. I'd recommend asking for a CLI w/your SSFCU CC. It's been open 3 yrs and you're only at $1k.<BR /><BR />You might want to look at adding an Amex. I'm not sure if you'd qualify for a BCE, but it has really good rewards. You might want to start w/Zync for only $25/yr AF. Then in a year, app for BCE. Also, this way all future Amex will be backdated to your first Amex. The benefit of that is that usually when you get a new CC, your AAoA takes a hit. With backdating, your AAoA actually gets a boost, which helps your FICO.<BR /><BR />Beyond that, I'd think about what you're looking for in terms of rewards. Navy is actually pretty good, IMO. Some have higher % for certain categories, but I like Navy for my all-purpose card. It's a straight forward 1% cash back and you only need to accumulate $20 in rewards before you can redeem.<BR /><BR />You might be able to qualify for Chase Freedom, which has different 5% categories each quarter.<BR /><BR />I don't think you have too many cards at all. You might want to close your Cap One at some point if there's an AF, since your CL probably won't ever increase.<BR /><BR /></P>Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:36:29 GMTbichonmom2012-08-31T08:36:29ZHow many cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1566542#M430735
<P>How many cards should I have open? It's sort of a long story as to why I'm asking that&nbsp;I posted in the relationship section. My gf just doesn't like how many credit cards I have. I feel comfortable with them and don't plan on using them much. Anyway do y'all think I should close any? My information is as follows.</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>Open:</P><P>SSFCU 1k CL Opened 9/2009 APR 12%is</P><P>NFCU 5kCL Opened this month APR 15%ish</P><P>Capitalone Platinum(no rewards) 500CL Opened 06/2011 APR 19%ish</P><P>JCrew 930CL Opened 11/2011 APR 24.99%</P><P>CareCredit 500CL Opened 10/2011(Parvo sucks) 0 till june '13 on one purchase</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>Closed:</P><P>Citi Forward 500CL Opened 9/2009 and Closed about Oct 2010 by them.</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>Baddies on my credit:</P><P>60 days late and 90 days late from the citi. The 90 was actually from me making a payment but not realizing it wasn't the minimum.</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>All will be paid off tomorrow except for the NFCU. I know it will really only effect me util wise now.</P><P>I couldn't care less about carecredit. Only reason I'd need it is for an emergency and I've never heard of a 500 vet emergency.</P><P>I've gotten tired of Jcrew. Too expensive and i guess 25 back for every 500 spent is good but its per season. So I have 3 months to spend 500 for a measly 25 bucks and I don't get much for 500 there. Only thing I like about them is they did auto cli from 500 to 930 about 5 months ago. And the interest is so high so if something happens and I don't pif the 25 back is basically just paying for th interest and not anything extra.</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>I know it's different for everybody but what is the ideal number of cards to have open? And which one's do y'all think I should close.</P>Fri, 31 Aug 2012 03:03:25 GMThttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1566542#M430735squirrely20052012-08-31T03:03:25ZRe: How many cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1566614#M430758
<P><STRONG>I think you have a nice portfolio of cards there. &nbsp;With the exception of the Cap One that won't grow, I'd keep them if there is no annual fee. &nbsp;If you have a fee, then I'd keep it till the new AF is about to post. &nbsp;Me personally- I'd look to getting possibly one more card that can grow. &nbsp;Maybe an Amex or Chase after gardening 6 mo to a year. &nbsp;Should be able to acquire a nice starting limit then.</STRONG></P>Fri, 31 Aug 2012 03:40:05 GMThttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1566614#M430758improvingmycredit2012-08-31T03:40:05ZRe: How many cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1566826#M430832
<P>It's a personal decision. I'd recommend asking for a CLI w/your SSFCU CC. It's been open 3 yrs and you're only at $1k.<BR /><BR />You might want to look at adding an Amex. I'm not sure if you'd qualify for a BCE, but it has really good rewards. You might want to start w/Zync for only $25/yr AF. Then in a year, app for BCE. Also, this way all future Amex will be backdated to your first Amex. The benefit of that is that usually when you get a new CC, your AAoA takes a hit. With backdating, your AAoA actually gets a boost, which helps your FICO.<BR /><BR />Beyond that, I'd think about what you're looking for in terms of rewards. Navy is actually pretty good, IMO. Some have higher % for certain categories, but I like Navy for my all-purpose card. It's a straight forward 1% cash back and you only need to accumulate $20 in rewards before you can redeem.<BR /><BR />You might be able to qualify for Chase Freedom, which has different 5% categories each quarter.<BR /><BR />I don't think you have too many cards at all. You might want to close your Cap One at some point if there's an AF, since your CL probably won't ever increase.<BR /><BR /></P>Fri, 31 Aug 2012 08:36:29 GMThttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1566826#M430832bichonmom2012-08-31T08:36:29ZRe: How many cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1566834#M430835
If it makes you feel any better, i have 10 cards. I don't think you have too many.Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:26:10 GMThttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1566834#M430835gettnthere2012-08-31T10:26:10ZRe: How many cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1567628#M431069
<P>I would close Cap One &amp; J Crew (based on ur usage?). As many suggest go for prime cards Amex Zync or BCE and a Chase card. It will make your portfolio to look more nice.</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>- Syed</P>Fri, 31 Aug 2012 20:25:39 GMThttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1567628#M431069kulamrazool822012-08-31T20:25:39ZRe: How many cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1567644#M431073
<P>Get rid of the toy limits and department store cards. &nbsp;You can manage with:</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>SSFCU 1k CL</P><P>NFCU 5kCL</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>Hopefully you have $0 balances so it doesn't mess up your utilization. &nbsp;Get yourself a 3rd card, probably a Chase Freedom, Chase Sapphire Preferred, or AMEX BCE/BCP and call it a day.</P>Fri, 31 Aug 2012 20:47:57 GMThttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1567644#M431073Razeus2012-08-31T20:47:57ZRe: How many cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1570702#M432051
<P>Thanks for all the input guys. I feel a little better now. Haha. I will close the cap1 probably next year right before the AF comes up.</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>Razues I'd love to do that. The only thing stopping me is my lates.&nbsp;I do have a balance on NFCU, which really was a balance transfer from jcrew and ssfcu, that I'm paying over the next couple of months. All other cards will not have a balance. The lates would also be at their two year&nbsp;mark at about the time the card will be paid off.</P>Mon, 03 Sep 2012 01:53:22 GMThttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1570702#M432051squirrely20052012-09-03T01:53:22ZRe: How many cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1570706#M432053
Answer to your first sentence: as many as you need. There is no magic number or range like there is with utilization. In my line of work I have seen guys with 830 FICOs that have 3 cards and I have seen 830 FICOs with those who have 20 cards.Mon, 03 Sep 2012 01:57:38 GMThttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1570706#M432053Jlu2012-09-03T01:57:38ZRe: How many cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1570714#M432056
<P>You can 180 cards, doesn't matter if you're responsible. I would hold off with the AMEX everyone's recommending, your baddies are still too recent in my opinion.</P>Mon, 03 Sep 2012 02:04:22 GMThttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1570714#M432056JonStur2012-09-03T02:04:22ZRe: How many cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1570718#M432057
<BLOCKQUOTE><HR />JonStur wrote:<BR /><P>You can 180 cards, doesn't matter if you're responsible. I would hold off with the AMEX everyone's recommending, your baddies are still too recent in my opinion.</P><HR /></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Not certain on this, we had a report a few months ago about someone with 20ish cards, who closed several, and got a non-trivial FICO boost.</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>While I can't say this isn't YMMV, I don't think the "have as many cards as you want" is a good plan: I think if you're more than something akin to one standard deviation outside the national averages, expect to have a more significant look taken at your credit report by any lender's underwriting. &nbsp;No different than showing a bureaucrat what they're expecting to see in my opinion.</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>&nbsp;</P>Mon, 03 Sep 2012 02:08:50 GMThttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1570718#M432057Revelate2012-09-03T02:08:50ZRe: How many cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1570744#M432070
Well the answer is; as many as you can responsibly manage. The Citi fiasco is an example of a very costly mistake that one can easily make while juggling many cards. I think you should close cap1 and keep the others. Have you checked with the rebuilding forum and tried to goodwill the lates on the Citi account?Mon, 03 Sep 2012 02:28:04 GMThttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1570744#M432070webhopper2012-09-03T02:28:04ZRe: How many cardshttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1570940#M432141
<P>@webhopper I haven't but I think I'll do that now.</P><P>&nbsp;</P><P>@JonStur I think you're right about Amex. If I can get the 90 day late removed I'll apply once my util is at 9%. Probably for Zync.</P><P>&nbsp;</P>Mon, 03 Sep 2012 05:05:35 GMThttp://ficoforums.myfico.com/t5/Credit-Cards/How-many-cards/m-p/1570940#M432141squirrely20052012-09-03T05:05:35Z